Fund drive for UO surpasses all hopes

Greg Bolt

Friday

Jan 30, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Sparking a bright light in otherwise dim economic times, the University of Oregon will today announce the final numbers for a record-­breaking fund drive that brought in more than $850 million and beat its goal by almost 50 percent.

The formal end of Campaign Oregon marks the conclusion of the most successful philanthropic effort in state history, one that already has reshaped the Eugene campus and will transform it further in years to come. It also is pouring tens of millions of dollars into new scholarship programs, faculty positions and program expansions.

In an event scheduled for this morning on the steps of Johnson Hall, UO President Dave Frohnmayer is expected to announce that the fund drive brought in $853 million. The amount far surpassed the dreams of its architects, who set a goal of $600 million when they planned the campaign in 2001.

Frohnmayer said he thought that goal seemed “practically impossible to reach when we started out.”

In fact, just the amount that was raised beyond the original goal $253 million is almost as much as the entire amount raised by the university in its previous capital campaign. That earlier drive raised $255 million, which itself was a state record at the time.

Frohnmayer called the result breathtaking and said it speaks volumes about the regard in which the UO is held and the passion of its supporters. He said the result shows that the university has raised its profile nationally and internationally.

“It’s a hot brand,” Frohnmayer said of the UO’s reputation. “The visibility regionally and even in the world is measurably greater.”

Bracketed by recessions

The campaign succeeded even though it was bookended by some very bad economic times. It was launched during the 2001 recession brought on by the collapse of the technology bubble and later by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and ended in the midst of an even worse recession blamed on the crash of the housing sector.

In between, though, the UO hit a sweet spot for philanthropy, as a world economic and stock market boom gave aging business magnates vast wealth to dole out. Eight-figure donations became almost commonplace as the university hit the halfway mark by 2005 and topped its goal by 2007.

Over the full length of the campaign the university brought in some notable donations and some surprising donors. In addition to longtime supporters Phil and Penny Knight, who already had given large amounts to the school and would make the largest single donation to the new campaign, the UO found a new friend in a former public relations entrepreneur named Lorry Lokey.

Lokey, who never attended the UO, eventually gave more than $130 million in a series of gifts that helped build new facilities for education, music, journalism and science. A new underground laboratory building and the entire science complex were named for him.

Donor Bernice Staton called out of the blue and said she wanted to donate $10 million for scholarships. A hundred students a year now attend the UO on Staton scholarships.

Controversy over athletics gift

In all, 90,000 people gave gifts large and small. Frohnmayer said they ranged from many millions to the $5 in change from a nun who had taken a vow of poverty but still wanted to help the university.

Most controversial was the Knights’ gift of $100 million to the athletic department. With that as a financial backstop, the UO is now moving ahead with building a $227 million basketball arena financed with state bonds.

The Knights also paid an estimated $8 million to renovate the athletic training center and are paying an undisclosed amount to build an academic center for student athletes, now under construction.

The Knight gifts are part of the $327 million raised for athletic facilities, or about 38 percent of the campaign total. That figure sparked a campus and community debate over the university’s priorities and whether it had sold its academic soul to sports at the expense of education.

Frohnmayer rejects that position. He said the $90 million spent to expand Autzen Stadium allowed the athletic department to wean itself from subsidies from the UO’s general fund and add new women’s sports. And he said the new arena will be not just a sports building but one that also will benefit the entire campus as a site for graduations, convocations and other community events.

He also noted that the campaign raised $138 million for academic buildings, much of which was then matched by state bonds, resulting in construction projects valued at $250 million. And he called the largest athletic projects necessary, once-in-a-century improvements to aging facilities.

The campaign also brought in almost $100 million for scholarships, money that allowed the university to cover students who faced a cut in their state financial aid grants because of the souring economy.

Buildings were beneficiaries

The drive raised $106 million to double the number of endowed professorships, and additional gifts allowed the UO to expand programs in Eugene and at its newly remodeled building in Portland.

Among the academic buildings that were added to or renovated were the Lillis Business Complex, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the MarAbel Frohnmayer Music Building, the HEDCO Education Building, the Miller Theater Complex, the Lokey Laboratories Building and the Many Nations Longhouse. Still to be built, in addition to the athletics buildings, are the Lewis Integrative Science Building and the Ford Alumni Center.

David Westcott, vice president of the Oregon Community Foundation and a former UO fundraiser, called the university’s effort amazing. And rather than making it more challenging for other charities, he believes that the UO’s effort shows that Oregonians continue to give even when times are hard.

“It is a tremendous accomplishment, but I’m not surprised because Oregonians are generous people and we see that every day,” he said. “Despite the economy and despite the markets, I think the future for giving is very, very strong. We’re all showing what Oregonians can do.”

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